they were fighting in eastern ukraine, and one of them has now been identified as 31-year-old luke lucyszynrom north carolina, who according to his parents who spoke with our colleague ellison barber was injured by an artillery shell and then three of his troopmates, another american, a swede, and a canadian, came to his aid when they were apparently hit by a russian tank and all four of them were killed his parents telling nbc that 31-year-old luke lucyszyn came to ukraine not to be a hero, but simply to help the people here his father was 100% ukrainian. that sad news coming as we are looking to see whether this deal to export grain from ukraine is going to be able to hold after russia launched a missile attack at the key odesa port less than 24 hours after that u.n. and turkish-organized deal was struck and amid all of that, we're hearing from president zelenskyy in his evening address saying that they now believe that the russians know that they are going to lose this conflict, and even are overhearing conversations of russian troops telling their relatives back at home that they know t

. >> reporter: luke lucyszyn grew up in new jersey. bryan young came from california. both were killed in action last week. american volunteers fighting with ukrainian forces against russia's invading army. the colonel was their commanding officer. he told us lucyszyn was injured by tank shelling and as young went to help more fire killed them both. >> i can call them idealists, driven by values and their dignity. >> we got the call from the u.s. state department. letting us know that luke is gone. >> reporter: at their home in calabash, north carolina, lucyszyn's parents, kathy and george are struggling. their 31-year-old son has left behind two young children of his own. why was he motivated to come to ukraine? >> it was, you know, david versus goliath. and he was ready to stand up and fight for the little guy. >> reporter: the colonel told us bryan young had experience in the american military and was a capable machine gunner. >> he perfectly knew what he was doing, you know. a good soldier. >> reporter: ukraine's president, volodymyr zelenskyy, has called on foreig

families in mourning a ukrainian commander sharing over the weekend that two americans, including luke lucyszyn died in battle after traveling here on their own for the war effort >> my heart can't be any heavier than it is now. >> reporter: kathy and george lucysczn describing their son luke as a loving father who went abroad wanting to help and found work as a medic. >> every time i talked to him i told him why don't you just come home? >> reporter: the parents say luke was knocked unconscious by an artillery blast and his fellow fighters rushed to help a russian tank opened fire. >> he didn't go there to be a hero he went there because he wanted to help people >> reporter: meanwhile in the port city of odesa, smoke-filled skies after a russian missile strike the attack coming after russia agreed to end its blockade and allow ukrainian ships to deliver vital grain, more than 20 million tons at risk of rotting in ships right now. tonight russia's foreign minister says their target was strictly military and the deal is still on, but ukraine's deputy prime minister is doubtful. >> do you have an

nbc news has now confirmed that luke lucyszyn was one of those americans killed in ukraine. this is all coming as followed is continuing over russia strike in the city of odessa. the port city. in violation of this deal agreed to just hours before with ukraine to allow grain exports to resume from the black sea. want to bring in nbc's, ali, who is standing behind us. we have this attack, hear comments from luke's family to nbc news, what more can you tell us? what more do you know? >> hi, yasmin. that's right, we've learned that his name is luke lucyszyn, he was over here working as a medic with the foreign fighters unit. according to his family, they were fighting in the donbas area when he was knocked unconscious by some shelling. his fellow fighters then tried to extricate him from the area when a russian tank rolled in, started firing on them, killed him, another american, and there are reports that one canadian and one swede were also killed in that attack. let's take a listen to it luc's family had to say when they spoke to nbc. >> i tried to talk him out of it. i was

. >> reporter: luke lucyszyn grew up in new jersey. bryan young came from california.led in action last week. american volunteers fighting with ukrainian forces against russia's indvagued army. the colonel was their commanding officer. he told me lucyszyn was injured by tank shelling and as young went to help more fire killed them both. >> i would call them idealists, driven by values and their dignity. >> we got the call from the u.s. state department. letting us know that luke is gone. >> reporter: at this home in calabash, north carolina, lucyszyn's parents, kathy and george are struggling. their 31-year-old son has left behind two young children of his own. why was he motivated to come to ukraine? >> it was, you know, caved versus goliath. and he was ready to stand up and fight for the little guy. >> reporter: the colonel told us bryan young had experience in the american military and was a capable machine gunner. >> he perfectly knew what he was doing, you know. a good soldier. >> reporter: ukraine's president, volodymyr zelenskyy, has called on foreign volunteers

this is according to the state department, which says that 31-year-old luke lucyszyn recently died ongion. luke's mother, kathy, joins us now. thank you so much for being here. we're so sorry for the loss of luke. just tell us, if you would, what he was doing in ukraine, why he went over there. >> he went over there, he told us, to drive an 18-wheeler, to try to get food to people who were in desperate need of it. he went there, he entered warsaw and got a visa. he didn't have a visa, he got into ukraine and then met up with different men and found out that there was no 18-wheelers to be driven anywhere. he has his cdl license. so he met up with men and he ended up joining the ukrainian military. all luke talked about was he really wanted to help. >> and i know, of course, you were so worried about him, though he felt compelled to do this, compelled to go over and help. what were your conversations like with him? >> well, we told him that, you know, it was really dangerous and no matter where he went, even if he drove a truck, he was still in danger. so we talked to him, but he couldn

this is coming as nbc news has confirmed that luke lucyszyn, one of the two americans killed by russianin fact been killed in ukraine since russia launched their invasion six months ago today. so, russia's war on ukraine has also had a major impact on ukraine's neighbors. richard louis got an exclusive interview with the prime minister of one of those ukraine allies. he's joining us now. hey richard, good to talk to you. take us through this interview. as we know, this war, it is not just affecting those inside ukraine, but those in the surrounding areas. >> yeah, as you know in your reporting, central europe is affected by this yasmin. slovakia, you know, it's a small country, but it's quite big when it comes to helping ukraine specifically. it was one of the first to meet with president zelenskyy personally, the first to offer missile defense systems, and it is a major refugee transit country seeing millions at the border today it. i sat down and slovakia's prime minister in an exclusive at the presidential palace, one of his most pressing issues today, ten slovakia maintain aid for m

nbc news has confirmed that one of these people, he's been identified as 31-year-old luke lucyszyn, father to ukraine back in early april. the state department did not explain what these two men were doing in ukraine or the nature of their deaths. joining me now is nbc's ellison barber in kyiv, ukraine, who actually spoke with luke's family last night. what can you tell us about luke and how his family is doing? >> hey, awesome, yeah, we spoke to both of his parents. they live in north carolina. they are understandably devastated, grieving this loss, trying to figure out how and when they tell his two young children that their father will not be coming home. they say they got a call around 4 am on july 19th from the state department telling them that it is possible their son had been killed in the donbas. since then, they say they've been able to piece together more information. as they understand it, they say their sons unit was ambushed by russian forces in eastern ukraine at some point some kind of artillery struck their son, he was struck unconscious. three other members of his unit we

families of luke lucyszyn says the state department informed the monday of their son's death. breaking this afternoon, at fair port, knew your man was arrested and charged with assaulting congressman and republican nominee for governor lee zeldin. authorities say the 43-year-old david -- assaulted the congressman additive and thursday. the congressman escaped serious injury from. that more politics nation with reverend al sharpton when we come back. politics nation with politics nation with reverend a for immune support. boost® high protein. ♪♪ it's the all-new subway series menu. twelve irresistible new subs. the most epic sandwich roster ever created. ♪♪ it's subway's biggest refresh yet! come back. in two seconds, a vacationer will say... yeah, i'm going to live here. only to realize... what if i can't sell my place? ♪♪ don't worry. sell it directly to opendoor and we'll help you buy your next one. aah. when life's doors open, we'll handle the house. it's the all-new subway series menu! 12 irresistible new subs... aah. ...like #3 the monster. juicy steak, bacon... double mo

luke lucyszyn -- her his mother informed us on the death in ukraine. the identity of the second american has not been confirmed. >> also in ukraine, so musky calling the visit a important signal of bipartisan support for our country, alluding to ukraine. the delegation was led by a chair of the armed services committee, adam smith, brigitte bright also met with president zelenskyy. and evacuation orders were issued in some parts of california, near yosemite, a new wildfire spreading extremely fast there. the wildfire is 0% contained. it started friday afternoon but it's already one of california's biggest so far this year. more symone, right after this break. symone,oss? it looks so good it makes me hangry! settle down there, big guy the new subway series. what's your pick? the lows of bipolar depression can leave you down and in the dark. but what if you could begin to see the signs of hope all around you? what if you could let in the lyte? discover caplyta. caplyta is a once-daily pill, proven to deliver significant relief break. nes that only treat